Vertical redraw



Jan. 22, 1957 y D G SQUSSLQFF ETAL 2,778,579

' VERTICAL REDRAW Filed Feb. 4, 1954 l INVENTOR.

DIMITRI G. SOUSSLOFF BY BERNARD ANDREWS AT TORNE Y VERTICAL REDRAW Application February 4, 1954, Serial No. 408,178

6 Claims. (Cl. 242-45) The present invention relates to a winding machine and more particularly relates to means for guiding a strand of yarn to a winding package and varying the tension thereof from one end of said package to the other. I

in the following specification and claims the term yarn is employed to indicate all varieties of strand material and the designation package is intended to mean the product of a winding machine.

To reduce manufacturing costs by reducing the amount of labor required the trend in present textile manufacturing operations has been to utilize yarn supply packages that carry many times as much yarn as was the practice only a few years ago. it has been determined that large bobbins employed on uptwisters should be of the type known in the art as taper top bobbins to give a sub- I stantially uniform tension during the twisting operation. A taper top bobbin is one having a large diameter bottom flange and a small diameter top flange and having the yarn wound thereon in layers of varying length, all of which start at the bottom flange, so that the yarn forms a substantiaily cylindrical body having a diameter approximating the diameter of the lower flange over the lower portion of the bobbin and tapers inwardly over the upper portion to a diameter approximating the diameter of the upper flangev Prior to the present invention it has been extremely difficult to wind satisfactory large taper top bobbins because of the tendency of the yarn wound on the tapered portion of the bobbin to slough as it was drawn from the bobbin. The resulting tangles caused broken ends, increased labor costs and caused inferior fabrics.

We have found that varying the tension in the winding strand of yarn to increase the tension therein while it is winding on the tapered portion of the package will produce taper top bobbins from which the yarn can be drawn without any sloughing.

One object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for winding taper top bobbins.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for guiding a strand of yarn onto a winding bobbin.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for winding taper top bobbins having means for varying the tension in the winding strand of yarn from the base of the bobbin to the tip thereof.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for winding taper top bobbins having means for varying the tension in the winding strand of yarn as it reciprocates said strand longitudinally of the winding bobbin.

Other objects of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises the apparatus possessing the construction, combination of elements and arrangements of parts which are exemplified in the following detailed disclosure, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the claims.

Patent" "ice Patented Jan. 22, 1957.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention, reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of, a portion of a winding machine embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view of the yarn guiding and tension controlling mechanism;

Fig. 3 is an end view of the tension controlling guide showing its position when it is adjacent the base of a bobbin; and

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing the guide when it is adjacent the upper end of a winding bobbin.

The present invention is shown and described herein as applied to a winding machine of the type known in the art as a vertical redraw machine. The winding bobbins are carried by a spindle similar to the spindles employed on twisting machines and are rotated about a vertical axis. The yarn is guided onto the rotating bobbins by means of guides carried by a vertically reciprocating rail. The guide of the present invention comprises two substantially parallel yarn engaging fingers that are oscillated about the axis of one finger as they are reciprocated by a traverse rail to apply increasing and decreasing amounts of wrap to the winding strand thereby varying the tension imparted to the strand depending upon the vertical location of said guides relative to the winding package.

Referring now to the drawing, Figure l discloses a winding machine embodying a preferred form of the present invention. Spaced vertical standards 10 are interconnected by horizontal rails 11 and 12. A plurality of winding units 13 are carried by rail 12 in uniformally spaced relation and Figure 1 shows the winding units that are located adjacent each end of the apparatus. Inasmuch as all of the units are identical, only one will be described in detail herein. Each winding unit comprises a spindle 14 pivotally mounted on rail 12 by means of spindle swing 15 for swinging movement towards and away from spindle driving belt 16 for selectively driving or stopping said spindle, all in a manner old and well known in the art. Belt 16 can be driven in any convenient manner but preferably is driven by means of an electric motor, not shown, located adjacent one end of the machine in a well known manner.

Horizontal rail 18 is mounted between standards 10 for vertical reciprocation by any of the builder-motions, old in the art, that are customarily employedwith ring twisters and which are adapted to reciprocate said rail in strokes that are continuously increasing and decreasing in length between predetermined limits. The maximum length stroke of rail 18 is substantially equal to the distances between the flanges of bobbin 19 carried by spindle 14 and the shortest stroke is preferably about half said distance. The lowermost position of rail 13 is such that a yarn guide, to be explained in detail hereinafter, carried thereby adjacent each spindle will lay the winding strand of yarn down to the lower flange of bobbin 19. Rail It; always starts its upward movement from this lowermost position and rises to varying heights so that a strand of yarn guided thereby and wound on bobbin 19 forms a taper top bobbin inasmuch as less yarn is deposited on the inverted 'U-shaped clip 23. The forward end' of rod 22 3 has a generally cylindrical abrasive resistant yarn guiding member 24 afiixed thereto in axial alignment therewith. Yarn guiding member 24 preferably is tubular in form and is fixed to rod 22 by means of screw 25 which extends therethrough and threadedly engages an opening formed in the end of rod 22. Tension applying member 26 is also carried by the foremost end of rod 20 in spaced parallel relation to yarn guiding member 24. Tension applying member 26 is also generally cylindrical, is formed of abrasive resistant material and is secured to rod 22 by means of arm 28 which preferably is clamped between the end of rod 22 and yarn guiding member 24. A bifurcated finger 29 is fixed to the rearmost end of rod 22 and has its bifurcated end straddling horizontally movable rod 30. Helical spring 31 is wrapped around rod 22 adjacent finger 29 and has one of its ends fixed to that finger and its other end engaging U-shaped clip 23 to rotate said finger and rod22 in a clockwise direction to. bring the free end of finger 29 against an abutment 32 fixed on horizontally movable rod 30.

The right hand end of rod is attached to one end of tension spring 33 and the other end of said spring is secured to bracket member 34 carried by reciprocating rail 18. Rod 30 is slidably journaled adjacent its left hand end in bearing block 35 fixed to the left hand end of reciprocating rail 18. A bar 37 bent to provide a cam surface 38 inclined upwardly and away from rail 18 is fixed to left hand vertical standard 10. A yoke 39 is fixed to the left hand end of rod 30 and straddles cam bar 37 and carries cam follower roller 40 which is held in engagement with cam surface 38 by tension spring 33. It will, therefore, be seen that as rail 18 moves upwardly cam surface 38 will draw horizontally movable rod 30 to the left whereupon abutment 32 will swing finger 29 in a counterclockwise direction to move tension applying member 26 around the axis of yarn guiding member 24 in a counterclockwise direction. It will also be seen that as rail 18 moves downwardly, tension spring 33 will draw horizontally movable rod 30 to the right to permit helical spring 31 to rotate finger 29 and tension applying member 26 in a clockwise direction.

A plurality of separator plates 42 are located between adjacent winding units and supported by horizontal bar 43 which in turn is suspended from rail 11 by means of brackets 44. Separator plates 42 serve to isolate the winding units one from the other so that in the event one strand of yarn Y breaks, the broken end cannot become entangled with neighboring bobbins.

The above described apparatus functions in the following manner. an overhead supply thereof, passed between yarn guiding member 24 and tension applying member 26 and around guiding member 24 and onto bobbin 19. Spindle 14 is then swung rearwardly to bring it into engagement with belt 16 to rotate said spindle and bobbin to wind said strand of yarn Y thereupon. Horizontal traverse rail 18 reciprocates vertically carrying with it yarn guide 20 to distribute strand of yarn Yin layers of predetermined varying lengths on bobbin 19. As rail 18 rises, cam following roller 40 engages cam surface 38 of cam bar 37 whereupon continued upward movement of rail 18 and rod 30 causes said rod to be drawn to the left by said cam surface. Such movement of rod 30 causes abutments 32 to pivot finger 29 in a counterclockwise direction and counterclockwise movement of finger 29 rotates rod 22 and swings tension applying member 26 around yarn guiding member 24. The counterclockwise swinging movement of tension applying member 26 causes strand of yarn Y to wrap around a portion of its periphery and to wrap around va greater amount of the periphery of yarn guiding member 24 to thus increase the tension in said strand between guide 24 and the windingpackage While saidstrandiswinding on the tapered portion of the bobbin. ,As rail -1;8 and rod 30 descend, tension spring-33 draws rod ".30 ,to the An end of yarn is drawn downwardly from i ht is been tells ins rolle scns antl is an: gagement with cam surface 38. As rod 30 moves lengthwise to the right the movement of abutments 32 with said rod permits spring 31 to pivot finger 29 and tension applying member 26 in a clockwise direction to reduce the amount of wrap the strand takes around said tension applying member and yarn guiding member 24 and to thereby reduce the tension in said strand.

The range of tension change imparted by tension controlling guide 20 can be changed by increasing or decreasing the horizontal movement of rod 30 by changing the slope of cam surface 38, or by substituting a diife'rent cam bar 37 having a diiferent slope. Another manner in which the range of tension change can be modified is by increasing or decreasing the effective length of finger 29 by moving horizontally movable rod 30 towards or away from rail 18. To accomplish this last mentioned adjustment, bearing block 35 and bracket member 34 can be adjustable in height by being made in two telescoping parts, or by the insertion or removal of spacing blocks between their lower ends and rail 18. The amount of tension applied the lower end of bobbin 19 can be preset by loosening screw 25 and rotating tension applying member 26 relative to yarn guiding cylinder so'that the strand of yarn will engage said member 26 with any desired amount of Wraps.

Since certain changes may be made in the above apparatus without departing from the scope of the invention herein involved, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

What is claimed is:

i. In a machine for winding yarn the combination comprising a rotatable spindle for rotating a package core, reciprocating traverse means for moving a yarn guide longitudinally of said core, a rod rotatably journaled on said traverse means adjacent said core, a yarn guide carried by said rod substantially coaxially therewith, a tension applying member carried by said rod in spaced relation to said guide to provide a yarn passage therebetween, a lever fixed to said rod, and means for pivoting said lever to swing said tension applying member around said guide as said traverse means reciprocates to change the tension applied .to a strand of yarn running through said passage.

2. In a machine for winding yarn the combination comprising ,a rotatable spindle for rotating a package core, reciprocating traverse means for moving a yarn guide longitudinally .of said core, a rod rotatably journaled on said traverse means adjacent said core, a yarn guide carried by said rod substantially coaxially therewith, a tension applying member carried by said rod in spaced relationto said guide to provide a yarn passage therebetween, a lever fixed to said rod, a second rod slidably journaled on said traverse means, means for reciprocating said sec- Qnd rod as said traverse means reciprocates, and means associated with said second rod for pivoting said lever to swingsaid tension applying member around said guide to change the tension applied to a strand of yarn running through said passage.

3. A machine as specified in claim 2 in which the means for reciprocating said second rod is a cam.

4. A machine -45 specified in claim 2 in which the means for reciprocating said second rod includes a fixed cam and a follower moved thereover by the reciprocation of said traverse means.

5. In a machine for winding a plurality of packages of yarn the combination comprising a plurality of rotat able spindles for rotating package cores and the yarn wound thereon, a reciprocating traverse rail for moving a plurality of yarn guides longitudinally of said package cores, each yarn guideincluding a rod rotatably jcurnaled on Esaid Etraverse rail adjacent each package core, a yarn guiding portion carried by each rod substantially coaxially therewith, a tension applying member carried by each rod in spaced relation to said guide portion to provide a yarn passage therebetween, a lever fixed to each rod, and unitary means for pivoting said levers to swing said tension applying members around said guiding portions as said traverse rail reciprocates to thereby change the tension applied to strands of yarn running through said passages.

6. In a machine for winding taper top bobbins the combination comprising a rotatable spindle for rotating a package core, traverse means reciprocable through increasing and decreasing strokes for moving a yarn guide longitudinally of said core, a rod rotatably journaled on said traverse means adjacent said core, a yarn guide carried by said rod substantially coaxially therewith, a tension applying member carried by said rod in spaced relation to said guide to provide a yarn passage therebetween, a lever fixed to said rod, and means for pivoting said lever to swing said tension applying member around said guide 6 as said traverse means reciprocates to increase the tension applied to a strand of yarn running through said passage when said strand is being wound on the tapered portion of the bobbin, said pivoting means acting to pivot said lever through a distance proportional to the length of stroke of said traverse means.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,025,988 Marlow May 14, 1912 1,081,986 Petersen Dec. 23, 1913 2,618,441 Marcellus Nov. 18, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 493,043 France Apr. 14, 1919 568,015 France Dec. 15, 1923 126,786 Switzerland July 2, 1928 

